


girl crush

by cakecakecake



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Awkward Romance, Canon Compliant, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Flirting, Multi, Polyamory, Self-Discovery, Self-Esteem Issues, not so slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 15:28:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19231903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cakecakecake/pseuds/cakecakecake
Summary: they both love cloud, but they'll come to learn -- they love each other, too.





	girl crush

**Author's Note:**

> takes place from the arrival in kalm to the reprieve in costa del sol, for now. 
> 
> adding more tags as we go along. 
> 
> finally writing for the threesome ship that made me realize later in life that, huh, i've been polyamorous from the start, haven't i

“She hates me.”

Cloud meets her eyes in the bathroom mirror. “What?”

“Aerith,” she says, before looking away. “I think she hates me.”

He draws his brows together, frowning as he leans over the sink. The faucet squeaks when he turns it on. “What makes you say that?” 

“I just have this feeling,” Tifa mumbles, vaguely. She crosses to sit on the toilet, raking a comb through her wet hair.

“What are you talking about?” He doesn’t sound impatient or condescending, but his tone is just cool enough to make her regret opening her mouth.

“It’s just the way she looks at me sometimes,” she sighs, embarrassed. “Like when I sit too close to you. When I say certain things to you.”

“Oh,” is all he says -- he clearly doesn’t realize. Or if he does, he doesn’t want to tell her so. 

“You don’t notice?” she prods him, sheepish. He turns off the faucet.

“No,” he says flatly, drying his hands. Maybe he’s just trying to spare her, but then again, maybe he just doesn’t Get It. “Why don’t you talk to her?”

“No, it’s stupid.” 

“Then forget about it,” he tells her, lighthearted, but she feels even heavier than before.

“I can’t, Cloud. I don’t want her to hate me.”

“She doesn’t.”

Tifa scoffs. “How do you know?”

“I just know,” he insists, shrugging. He rubs at her bare shoulder, fingers slipping under the strap of her tank top. He’s warm, from the running water or just on his own. Tifa leans into his touch; more comforting than his words. “Come on, we should be getting some sleep.”

“Yeah,” she agrees, and adds gently, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he half-smiles, and kisses the top of her head. She sways, clutching his arm as he guides her to the bedroom.

*

“She hates me.”

Cloud pokes a fork into his plate of fried fish, staring into it. “What.”

Aerith grunts, elbows on the table with her chin in her palm. “Cloud, don’t pretend -- you know she does.”

“What are you talking about.” He’s still not looking at her, completely fixated on his meal. He takes a big, slow bite of the salmon and Aerith sighs.

“Tifa! I really think she hates me.”

“Why would you say that?” Finally, he meets her face, arching his brows like he’s totally surprised. She rubs at her temples, frustrated already. 

“Because it’s true, isn’t it? She's been looking at me strangely ever since we got to Junon.”

“This again...” 

Aerith strains an ear, barely hearing him as he grumbles to himself between bites. “What’s that?”

“Nothing,” he lies, obviously, but she lets it pass.

“So you really don’t notice?”

“Notice what?”

“When I flirt with you,” she explains, guiltily. “I think it makes her uncomfortable.”

“That’s not your problem,” comes Cloud’s cold response, baffling her so much that she stands up from her seat. 

“Of course it is! How could you say that?”

“Then why don’t you talk to her?” he challenges her without raising his voice, but Aerith scoffs at him anyway, impatient and agitated.

“No, it’s too stupid!”

“Look, Aerith -- I know Tifa, and I know she keeps a lot to herself,” he explains, softly now, looking at her apologetically. “If you can’t ignore it, then...you need to take the initiative.”

Aerith steels herself, a knot tightening in her throat. “Cloud….” 

“What?” 

“Am I doing something wrong?” 

Cloud’s forehead creases. “What?”

“Me, being with you like this,” Aerith tells him, pensive. She’s had her doubts before, but not because of reasons like this. Reasons like her. “Is it wrong?”

His gaze falls for a moment, dropping to his lap before being drawn back to her face. He stands up, reaching for her hand. She lets him take it, closing her eyes at the feel of the cool leather on her skin. He leans forward, resting his forehead against hers. 

“I’m not the one who gets to decide that,” he tells her.

“Then what should I do?” 

Cloud half-smiles, brushing a stray hair behind her ear before turning away. “I think _you_ need to figure it out.” 

*

The sun burns differently in Costa Del Sol. 

Tifa’s never felt anything like it. Nibelheim and Midgar have both had their own wild summers, but nothing ever as intense as this weather. Even with the cooling system on full blast, she still feels like she’s sweating. She excuses herself from helping to search for Hojo and opts for taking a shower instead, cherishing the heavy pressure from the spout of cool water. It feels like she’s been in there for hours when a heavy knock on the door shakes her from the trance. 

“Who is it?”

“Tifa?” a muffled voice calls to her.

“Aerith?” she calls back, confused -- she’d thought she would have followed Cloud. “You’re still here?”

“Yeah, sorry, can I come in?”

“Of course,” she says, and hears the door creak open. “You didn’t go with Cloud?”

“No,” she answers, and Tifa’s still surprised. “Need a towel?”

Tifa shuts off the water. “Yeah, could you -- ?”

Aerith’s small hand slips past the curtain, clutching a soft pink terry cloth. 

“Thanks, um -- what have you been doing, then?”

“I tried taking a nap, but it’s just so hot,” Aerith complains, making her giggle. 

“Yeah it is. Do you wanna jump in the shower?” she suggests, feeling a little worried about her -- if the heat bothers her that much, she can’t imagine Aerith’s faring very well with it either. “It might make you feel a little less dizzy.”

“Oh, no I’m fine, um...I....”

Tifa pokes her head out from behind the curtains, looking her over -- Aerith is dressed-down in a tank top and shorts she’d had no idea she’d packed with her, hair in a perfect bun nestled at the top of her head. A few wild wisps of chestnut brown hair are sticking to her forehead and the sides of her cheeks -- the exposed swell of her chest is pink, shiny with sweat. Tifa sucks in a gasp that she hopes isn’t audible. 

“Sorry, um, I should let you get dressed,” Aerith stammers in a way that’s completely unlike herself. Tifa tightens the towel around her breasts, feeling the water drip down off her face.

“Did you need something?” she asks her curiously, stepping out of the tub, watching the other woman carefully watch her, feeling the heat rise again in her chest, all the way up her neck.

“I just -- “ Aerith struggles, like words are suddenly difficult. She leans over in that way that Tifa’s only ever seen her do when she’s sweet-talking Cloud, and it strikes some unfamiliar chord within the pit of her chest. Something about her smile is different from that, like it's just for her. “ -- since we’re here for the night, I was thinking of going to the beach later…” 

“Oh,” Tifa chirps, “that sounds really nice…”

“I don’t have a bathing suit, though,” Aerith says without blinking, holding onto her gaze like they're in a staring contest. Tifa arches her brow.

“I saw a boutique a block over, you could try there?”

Aerith lets out a heavy breath, like she’s spent the past half hour in a fight with herself and had just accept defeat against her own better judgement. She flops her arms at her sides and chokes out a nervous giggle that Tifa almost doesn’t catch. “Tifa -- would you come out shopping with me?”

She almost drops the towel. “Really? You...wanna hang out?”

“Yeah, really,” Aerith confirms, grinning brightly, hopefully. Tifa’s heart swells.

“O-Okay -- lemme get dressed!"


End file.
